Apple will launch an official gaming joypad soon

Mells · March 2013

Source : Apple will launch an official gaming joypad soon

Long rumoured - and hoped for - GDC 2013 has finally provided confirmation that Apple will release its own dedicated game controller.

Of course, there's no official word yet, but Apple has been active during the conference talking to developers about its plans and ensuring plenty of games will support the joypad at launch.

I still think that AirPlay support in Gideros will become very important when Apple unleashes the next Apple Tv.
A joypad makes this hypothesis even more probable.
I believe it's in our interest to make our apps compatible with the technology as soon as possible.
Edit : Removed some words that didn't fit my thoughts.

@atilim -> Any update on this please?

james23 · March 2013

I'd be surprised if airplay support is slated as anything other than a luxury, unless it's real easy to implement that is. Maybe when (or if) the apple tv market matures and consumer demand rises there would be an obvious ROI but can't see that happening for a while. Would be good for marketing though.

Airplay and the joystick will be, IMHO, mostly relevant to AAA 3D titles (well, mobile AAA that is) and not basic 2D scrollers and the like (no offence intended). I can see airplay being used significantly more for viewing media rather than games.

There's plenty for Gideros to implement before I'd be worried about airplay. There's nothing wrong with being late if it's what makes the most sense.

Mells · March 2013

Hey @james23,
I agree that due to limited resources The Gideros team is doing the right thing by focusing on other priorities if they estimate it's the best for the framework.
I'd just like to have more infos for what looks to be a bet on the future for me (but i also get your point about why it might not become such an interesting opportunity).

Airplay : I believe the market is ready for Airplay even without a joypad

The market : My opinion is different about the fact that people might want to play only AAA 3d titles with it (We will also see if the Ouya gets some traction.) :

Wii casual players (well, if you look at the video that game has much depth in fact), this is the market that I am interested in.
At least I would have a lot of fun working on it

But as I said, I can understand it might not make devs interested.

gorkem · March 2013

@mells currently OpenGL 2.0 & upcoming version has the highest priority unless there's a showstopper bug pops up. I personally see Airplay as a "nice to have" support, in fact, compared to what @atilim is working on right now.

Mells · March 2013

Hey @gorkem,

this is essentially what I said?

I agree that due to limited resources The Gideros team is doing the right thing by focusing on other priorities if they estimate it's the best for the framework.
I'd just like to have more infos for what looks to be a bet on the future for me (but i also get your point about why it might not become such an interesting opportunity).

When I say "the right thing" means that I know, for sure, that @atilim is doing a great work and we will be all amazed by what he will release.

However

the Gideros supporter in me really understands (and I almost deleted my message before posting).
On the other hand I believe a middle ground exists between giving a specific time range and "can't answer".

I think talking about a roadmap is not taboo, I don't see it as "users vs the team".
I think that's a discussion opened for the community that we compose.

Correct me if I'm wrong but every time that somebody is asking for an update he is considered as if he is asking the team to give priority to his own feature request -> (and sometimes -silently- considered as a whiner?).
This is what I feel. I would have used different words if that was my case.

There is a way to give a range that would make an answer for us, without putting @atilim in a position that he is not comfortable with ###(which is not what I want).###

So my question is just : can we get an update about the availability of Airplay if it ever comes to Gideros?

Will OpenGL 2.0 be made available tomorrow in Gideros? No. Later.
Will OpenGL 2.0 be made available in Gideros in 2016? No. Before.
See? There is a way to give a range that would make an answer for us, without putting @atilim in a position that he is not comfortable with ###(which is not what I want).###

I thought that <6 months and >6 months was a reasonable start.

I think my tone showed that this is not my intention (to push my request before the others), it's an open discussion to get an update ("The update will be delayed 2 months" could be an update, doesn't mean I will reply "But you said so yourself!!!" at all ).

Or just tell me that I should not ask questions about the future of Gideros (which showed, I believed, a real interest and commitment for the product and the community) if this is what you feel, and I will refrain from asking in the future.

That's not the first time it happens, that I feel people kindly (but wrongly) ask me to "stop whining", so I would like to know more about it and clarify things.

james23 · March 2013

@Mells nice pictures, always good to see people make an effort with there posts

Not a fan of the Wii u myself, something about it just doesn't click, maybe it just reminds me of a gamegear too much. It all seems a bit of a bulky, confused mess.

Stuff like the Ouyo, game stick and nvidia shield are heading in the right direction but may struggle gaining a strong customer base with such underpowered systems that require a TV (or in the shields case, just looks goofy).

The issue I have with airplay is that it's the kind of feature that helps sell iphones, ipads and apple TVs but not really the games that support it. Sure its a cool feature and people will love it but its also ios only and requires apple TV.

With TV manufacturers starting to build in more advanced connectivity I'm hoping a more standards based system can be worked out. There's already dlna so it wouldn't be hard for an app to connect up to a smart device using it. Or even have a plugin that lets an app act like a media server, that's essentially all airplay is doing. Imagine all TVs having a common standard for multi-screen streaming from devices.

Anyway, I digress. I'm sure streaming your device to a TV will be popular in the future so is a nice feature to have. Be interesting to see what specs future apple TV box's will have for playing games.

ar2rsawseen · March 2013

@Mells both @gorkem and @atilim have always been overprotective with Gideros.
That really does not mean that you should stop asking. Look at all the awesome stuff you post, that I would even not be aware of.

It's completely ok to keep us updated with the latest tendencies.

Unfortunately with all the great plans there are with Gideros, we are probably booked for implementing must have features up to the end of the year.
Of course will try occasionally slide in some should have features, and when they are all done, we will try sliding in nice to have features

But the posts you post are really awesome and we need more of those, so even if the feature will not be implemented now (and probably not in the near time), we could still plan accordingly and maybe implement something in the core, that would later help implement those features more easily

OZApps · March 2013

I guess that while OpenGL 2.0 sounds like a one dot point and a very simplistic one at that. Come to think of it, it would resolve so many more,
* Masks
* Clippings
* Texture fills
* Shaders
* Lighting
The list goes on...

ar2rsawseen · March 2013

@OZApps yes exactly, maybe not all from the start but eventually that is something that would allow to implement all that.
As I understood, then problem is that OpenGLES 2.0 is not compatible with the ways of OpenGLES 1.1 used by Gideros now, so all the base had to be rewritten. Theoretically it will be a completely new Gideros with same API

bowerandy · March 2013

@Mells what is involved in adding Airplay support to a Gideros game (and Joypad support for that matter)? Is there any reason why this stuff couldn't be added using a plugin or Hot Wax)?

Best regards

ar2rsawseen · March 2013

I think that Ariplay is required handling multiple displaying devices as in multiple monitors (probably with multiple stages). Which would be hard (or impossible) to do with plugins
Joypad would probably require binding more keys, without digging deeper that may seem possible to implement through plugins

bowerandy · March 2013

@ar2rsawseen, so is the idea to have a communal screen (tv) to watch the main gameplay and then separate iOS devices for the controllers each with their own screen tailored to info specific for that player? I had assumed (naively perhaps) that it would be one iOS device running the game and projecting the (single stage) gameplay to the tv via Airplay and then each player using a wireless controller to join in the game. Given the cost of iOS devices, the latter might be a more practical setup for most people.

Best regards

OZApps · April 2013

@bowerandy, the first thing with airplay that impedes Gideros while using wax is that since there is just one Gideros Stage, either the developer can use that for touches, etc or to display the images/sprites, however when Gideros shall offer multiple stages, then they can be used in a much better manner.

For the manner you described, using two devices, the main requirement would be some form of socket programming that would control/communicate between the two devices.

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